On the 4th Day of Christmas

Today we have a special guest for you! Miss Ebony Love of Love Bug Studios.

She has whipped up a FABULOUS Christmas Project that she is going to share with us to show us how her fun card pack works.

If you haven’t heard of or seen her Quiltspirations in action, check out this video for a few basics about what they are and how to use them and then read on for her Christmas Project!

Hi I am Ebony Love.

I thought it would be fun to give you a sneak-peek into how I use Quiltspirations to add a little whimsy to my projects, or just get me out of a creative rut. It’s especially handy around the holidays when you want to do something handmade, but get stuck thinking about just what to do!

I pulled a few cards from the pack of Quiltspirations, just to see what might result. The three cards I chose were, “Lend a Hand”, “You are My Sunshine”, and “Work Small”.

Each of the cards in the pack gives you a suggestion of what to do, and reading through the cards, I knew I’d be doing a little hand embroidery, incorporating yellow, and working on something small and fast. From those three prompts, I came up with an idea, and I assembled these materials for my project:

Working small can be interpreted in many ways. What I decided to do was work from a charm pack (isn’t Marmalade divine?), and since I’m an avid die-cutting enthusiast, I grabbed a die to use for the project. The card suggested “wonky stars” – and that’s exactly what I found!

The “You are My Sunshine” card suggests incorporating yellow into a project, so a bit of Bella Yellow came to the rescue.

I cut some 5″ squares from the Bella Yellow so they would match the charm squares, then I selected about 12 of the fabrics from the charm pack and fused Misty Fuse to the wrong side of each fabric.

I layered the fabric on the die to cut them and ended up with dozens of really neat stars!

Now what to do with these stars? I recently purchased a set of six plain white kitchen towels, and I thought these stars would make great little appliques along one edge of the towel, so I fused a bunch of stars there.

Finally, the last card suggested doing a little hand embroidery. I rarely, rarely undertake hand work, but I remembered that I had a stash of embroidery floss in one of my craft bins and a set of embroidery needles. Wouldn’t the stars look great with a little running stitch outline?

It was very relaxing to take a little time out of my day to stitch this, but I thought the towel needed a little bit more. I dug up some yellow rickrack and matching embroidery floss,and decided to hand-stitch that part too.

This hand towel was really fun to make, and it looks really great and festive hanging in my kitchen:

What I find really neat about Quiltspirations is how it reminds me of things that I own but haven’t used in a while, or suggest that I try something different that’s out of my comfort zone. Quiltspirations isn’t about making a specific project, but is used more for a creativity spark. It’s not a traditional card game to be played while sitting around a table, although it is something you can play with friends, or by yourself.

I’ve heard from quilt guilds all over the country that use them for mini-workshops and group challenges, but the most interesting story I have heard is how many people read through the entire pack of cards just for the entertainment value!

The card pack contains 40 cards, with a set of instructions and creativity prompts in seven categories. There are also a couple of wildcards in the deck to add a little more surprise to your play.It’s a great little stocking stuffer and a unique gift for the quilter in your life.

I’d love to have this; I organize a quilt retreat for one of the guilds I am involved with and these would offer a great challenge to those taking part (and I’d even be willing to share with my other guild!)Merry Christmas!

What a great idea. We all need a kick in the pants to move us into creativity once in a while–or more often maybe! I stay so distracted with the minutia of daily life which is complicated at the moment.

I have been quilting for two years now and so far I have made one hand quilted hexagon quilt. This year I want to move on to fun fantastic projects that fill my house with inspiration and joy. I just need a jump start to my creativity..this is IT!! I had no idea there was such a thing I keep reading my magazines..but here it is!! A jump start to my OWN creativity.

Santa would love to put Quiltspirations Card Game into my stocking for me because this would be a change from watching TV and getting myself motivated again. You always need a good change in your life and this is a good thing. Great idea and Marmalade Charm Pack is a perfect addition. Thank you for the chance to win.

I have just been put in charge of the little quilter’s shop for my quilt guild and would love to give Quiltspirations a try to see if it is something I might want to include in the shop. Thanks for the chance to win! Happy holiday quilting!

Oh what great idea! I can see me using this to get my sewing and quilting inspiration back, and what lovely gift for a couple of my friends who are too busy working to indulge in creative thinking time 🙂

I sure hope Santa leaves these in my stocking because what better inspiration could a girl ask for? It’s still up to you what you make but the challenge is there! Maybe a set of these would also inspire my daughters in law and granddaughters to sew SOMETHING good!!

I would love for Santa to leave the Quiltspirations Card Pack and a Marmalade Charm Pack for me. I find that my mind sometimes gets stuck in a rut more & more often as I get older and I think that this would really help to work my imagination on colors and design. What can I say about Marmalade, all of the collection is just luscious and I would love to win your giveaway.

Quiltspirations! How very COOL! What a great way to get creativity flowing! I can already imagine some fun and interesting challenges for my quilter friends and me! I would love to see Quiltspirations in my stocking!

When my 3 sisters & I get together we always end up playing card games (we live in 4 different states & get together at least once a year). We also quilt & do round robins & block exchanges. So this neat deck of cards would be perfect for our next get together. Thanks for the chance to win.

What a fabulous idea those inspiration cards are! Sometimes our stashes get to the point we forget what we have and these would be a great reminder to go back and use some of those fat quarters or pre-cuts we bought for those “one of these days” projects.

Please Santa, put this bit of inspiration in my stocking so I can always be reminded of why I love quilting so much.

I would love for Santa to leave me the Quiltspirations Card Pack & a Marmalade Charm Pack because I’ve set a goal, beginning in January I am going to learn to machine quilt. Love Moda Blog for quiltspirations! Happy Holidays.

It would be great to take this to my quilt group’s retreat as we could all take a card and make something for show and tell. It would be fun to see what everyone comes up with. Would love this to put in my stocking. Thanks.

Santa needs to leave this in my stocking because I love to find inspiration from all sorts of places and wouldn’t it be lovely to have a deck of inspirations?! (Not to mention the beautiful charm pack to go with!)

I learned how to machine sew/quilt last Christmas season and have perfected the squares, but have recently been thinking that I want to advance to some hand stitching techniques but didn’t know where to start. This would be a great help and inspiration.